tonight in the Chinese food spot...

In the midst of doing laundry that didn't get done this past weekend, due to being under the weather, the fat girl that lurks underneath this skin got a craving for an appetizer at the Chinese food spot on the corner. I live in the Bronx, so along with liquor stores and check cashing places, Chinese food spots are everywhere.

Tonight it was empty. Just me in there, waiting, listening to the Chinese being thrown around on the other side of the counter.

"Hello!!" resonated from the back.

I looked behind me to see who he was talking to...it was me.

"Oh, hello!" The five cooks behind the counter all looked at me and laughed. It's the most I've ever spoken to anyone who worked there. I stood there. Head resting on my folded hands, waiting for my food, but I couldn't help myself. Staring at the Chinese woman who manned the phones and register....

"What kind of Chinese are you speaking? Cantonese? Mandarin?" I asked.

She stopped and looked like she was waiting for me to insert the disrespectful racial joke here. Literally, she looked as though she was bracing for the insult.

"I ask because I lived in Asia. I went to Hong Kong. I lived in Japan for a year."

The remnants of a slight grin showed on her face. She relaxed and responded, "Oh really, Hong Kong is a beautiful city."

"Yes, it is."

I don't know if she is just going to brush it off as an occurance, but I really had a moment with her. I have walked into this Chinese food spot, and many others in NYC and seen people acting disrespectfully wreckless with these workers. Purposefully butchering their accent and the way they look, for laughs during their weed smoke filled, alcohol induced, or simply ignorance injected conversations.

Frankly,  it pisses me of.

I've seen the same with the Pakistani and Indian workers on my block at the Dunkin Donuts. No respect because they can't relate, and don't want to.

So yes tonight, at the Chinese food spot...I hope I let them know, at least one person in the neighborhood respects where they come from...

time to go get my laundry.

10 months, 7 countries...my 2010

I had this up as a status about a month back. The realization of everything I've done in 2010, alone. We're officially in November, and the mirage of what has made up all these moments in 2010 is humbling, exciting, even tiring. Home feels good. It feels right, right now. The world did me good this year, and as per usual to Evita, the traveling was extreme. Never half assed...

Japan: New Years in Tokyo, and the Nomad•ness episode to rep it. Niigata and saying goodbye to life long friends and children I taught. Started off the year with a ton of goodbyes, but have been adamant about keeping in touch.

India- Late Feb into March; Three cities and a desert in eleven days. Stephanie, Melissa, and I hit the ground running in India. Holi Festival and our lives are changed forever.. Nomad•ness epsiodes and some of my favorite travel photography. Running your fingers across the Taj Mahal is out of this world.

NYC: April into August; Home sweet home, for what was supposed to be a substantial amount of time. Until an opportunity presented itself.

China: End of August; two days in Hong Kong rummaging around, getting reused to Asia. Then stranded there for four days while trying to reach home again a few days before Halloween.

Thailand: September to November; home for what would end up being two months. From the streets of Bangkok, to the country of Saraphi. Chiang Mai temporarily replaced the concrete jungle.

Cambodia: The place in Asia that stole my heart. Angkor Wat and Ta Prohm were the catalyst, and the city of Siem Reap is what kept me there past my border run, for sure. So much to see, experience, and the art...oh the art. Many back alleys there reminded me more of Europe than any Asian country I'd visited before. I'll be back.

Burma: Oh Visa-Run, how you loved us so...

Gratitude for being able to live out dreams, and for those who helped support it.

stranded...

I have been stranded in Hong Kong now for what is well over 24 hours.

I have spent over 48 hours in airports, and two nights attemptiong sleep will being awkwardly stretched out over seats in airport departure terminals.

My eating and hydration is scarce, and slowly but surely, I feel like all patience is ridden from my body.

I am on my second phone card. I am in a partnership with my mother, father, and brother in trying to find out what the hell is going on with my flight.

This is, by far the worst situation I have ever been in, while traveling. THE WORST! It is now almost official that I will not be back in NYC in time for the Cambodian Benefit dinner I was invited to on Saturday, which only adds pure diesel fuel to my flame.

The mishaps are plentiful and I truly don't know what to do with myself. I feel like I am trapped. I want nothing more that to spaz out, while I am being told to remain calm.

My least favorite part of traveling, is the actual traveling. The flights and all that comes along with them. This experience breeds pure disdain for the process now.

I STILL have no confirmation for another flight. We're approaching the three day mark. I wonder at what point the average person would break? I just want out of here.

Little did the people know, who booked my flight, but Emirates Airlines doesn't play that 'someone else paid for my flight' card. Because I was not the card holder, or the card holder wasn't flying with me, they refused to let me on the plane for the Hong Kong to Dubai, Dubai to NYC leg of the trip home.

The very legs I spoke about in the previous blog...wish me luck and sanity.

two long legs...

I'm a litle dreary eyed after a good four hour nap/sleep at some random guesthouse in the middle of downtown Hong Kong.

I have to do an Interact with Evie episode on how to get from Hong Kong International Airport to the downtown, Nathan Road area. When I landed, I realized I'd have to do the trip all from memory again. It's not bad at all.

I just needed a bed. Trying to do anything even remotely cose to sleeping in Bangkok airport last night was a bonafide no go! That shit was the worst, but I definitely was not alone.

I am up now after a semi-legit sleep and shower, getting ready to head back to the airport.

The two long legs of my trip will commence in about five hours.

I'm flying 10 hours to Dubai.

Yes, the Dubai that I dream about temple hopping in for days on end. Dubai is actually on my top ten dream trip list. I'm excited to see their ariport.

Then, after a fairly short transfer time, I fly 13 hours from Dubai to JFK.  Geeze!

Time to turn these planes into memoir writing capsules and get some serious work done, in between hopefully, some serious naps. I'm not the best at sleeping on planes.

Almost to the concrete jungle.

the vapors...

I have traveled to many places, and been a passenger on many planes. Yet, the Air Asia flight from Hong Kong to Bangkok produced a first for me. Never, have I ever, seen the magnitude of vapors coming from both sides of the plane as I did on this flight.

Post this video I had to pull a flight attendant aside and confirm it was air conditioning.

Jeremiah, who made it a point to emphasize his fear and reluctance of flying was the star of this flight. I tried my best to help him through it, even when it was clear that we were flying through lightening, and I told him it was a streaming white light on the side of the plane, totally normal. Love that guy...hilarious.



Nomad•ness Eps. 10 Hong Kong Evie

Shot at 5 Points, in Long Island City, Evie has her pre-departure words before heading to out Thailand. First stop is a short snippet of Hong Kong on a hazy and hot summer day. 

Hong Kong ≈ New York, Japan>Hong Kong

Evan and I left Bodgan at the airport to figure out his connecting flight status, and to wait for Tyler and Jeremiah to show up.

 We both wanted to see Hong Kong, yet as Evan stated, “It’s your show. We’re just following it.” With that, we were off on the next bus into the city.

 After running for a bus ticket, lugging a 50+ pound rolling bag, backpack, and purse, my heart rate was through the roof, and I triumphed at making it in time for the bus to pull off with the angry, impatient bus driver behind the wheel.

 Forty minutes into the bus ride, it was apparent we were reaching the city center and I was surprised to see how dirty Hong Kong was. I mean, you hear about the severe pollution and over population but you can see this shit in the air. I felt like you could wipe the years of pollution layering itself off the sides of buildings. Many of the buildings look like modern day Chinese ‘ghettos’ from the outside. I wonder what the insides look like.

 Hong Kong, to me, is like the dirty New York of Asia. New York City is not the cleanest of cities, therefore I find a more accurate comparison, in say, Hong Kong resembling it, than the “I can eat off the ground” Tokyo, even though all three share the very bright light Times Square similarity.

 As soon as our bus stopped, we were bombarded at the door by (to my surprise) a notable population of Indians. I felt like I was back in Jaipur. This shit was crazy. I also felt the immediate morphing I go through in situations where people disregard personal space. Insert stone cold face, attitude to match, and as much silence as possible. The more you talk, the more they follow.

 The flood of Indians gave way to African men, and for some reason, I felt a little bit better. They were a tad bit less aggressive and just so happened to run the hostel we were searching for. Also, it was more true to form for me from experiences in Japan.

 In Tokyo, especially around Roppongi, the amount of Ghana originating Africans is mind numbing. You have no idea how they got there, nor why they stayed. Seeing these men from Nigeria just made more sense to my brain, post 15-hour flight.

 I can’t wait to see the footage Evan got of me in Hong Kong…it felt good to start this trip off as the only cast mate around with Evan. It’s allowing me to get used to the process, and get reused to Asian again. I have definitely arrived…